Stellata di Falco
by RandyPandy
Summary: Spoilers for City of Stars. Falco takes it upon himself to ride Merla in the Stellata di Falco. This is told from Falco di Chimici's point of view, and is a retelling of part of the Epilogue from City of Stars.


First of all, I recommend that you DON'T read this fic if you have not finished reading City of Stars, as this takes a different viewpoint from the epilogue of City of Stars and will actually spoil the books for you. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Disclaimer: Stravaganza, Falco, Georgia, and all other characters in this fic do not belong to me; they belong to Mary Hoffman, the awesome author of the Stravaganza series.

Also, this might not be very good, as I rarely deviate from the Mega Man fandom. This is the first time I've written for a book in general, so I hope I did well. Now, on with the fic!

* * *

Falco di Chimici, aka Nicholas Duke, had been feeling strange all day, and he believed that it had something to do with Remora. On a whim, he decided to go see whether he fellow Stravagante, Georgia, felt it. Currently, he was standing outside her door and waiting for her to answer. 

Finally, the door opened and he saw Georgia look out of the door at him. Falco said, "How are you? I've been feeling so peculiar all day. I think it's something to do with Remora so I wondered if you felt it too." He was about to say more when he noticed that Georgia was holding a very familiar object, an object that she had supposedly lost.

It was the winged horse.

Falco's dark eyes lit up. "You found it?" he gasped in awe. Georgia smiled at him.

"I found it. And yes, I have been feeling odd about Remora."

"Do you want to go back to Remora and see what is going on?" Falco asked her.

"Of course!"

That night, Falco was lying in Lucien's old bed, touching Merla's feather which he had placed in his pockets. In his mind, Falco willed the feather to take him to back to Remora, to see what was going on and maybe discover how his father and brothers were doing without him. Eventually, Falco fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself curled up in a pile of hay, Georgia lying down next to him. Both of them sat up, and Falco looked around wonderingly at the stable. Despite the fact that he had stravagated before, it was still an amazing concept. Abruptly, they noticed a familiar person nearby, and when he noticed them, he called out, "Georgia?"

It struck Falco that he didn't recognize him, but he said absolutely nothing as Georgia said, "Cesare!" and hugged him. "You'd better find me something to wear – my old boy's clothes aren't here anymore."

Cesare just stared at her. "I don't think boy's clothes would suit you now," he said. Falco noticed the female Stravagante blush as she punched Cesare in the arm.

"Wait till you see who's come with me," she said, a huge grin on her face. "It took us ages to get back to sleep – we were so excited about coming back."

Falco finally stepped out from behind Georgia, and barely had time to see the puzzled expression on Cesare's face before he said, "Hello, Cesare!" Cesare, surprised, made the Hand of Fortune, clearly surprised to see Falco well and healthy without using his sticks to walk. "I'm back," the former di Chimici prince continued. "Tell me what's been going on this last year."

"Year?" Cesare said, surprised. "It's only been a month since you left. I can't believe how you've changed! And that you come back today of all days!" Falco and Georgia gave each other a startled glance.

"Why?" Georgia asked. "What's special about today?"

"There's going to be a special Stellata," explained Cesare. "And I'm riding Arcangelo for the Ram. It's in Falco's honor."

"Brilliant!" said Falco. That would make what he had been planning to do so much easier.

"We'll come and watch you," said Georgia. "Only we need some clothes." Cesare dashed back inside to get Falco and Georgia proper clothing, and soon returned with a dress of Teresa's and one of his old stable boy clothes.

"Spend some time with the horses, and then come inside and change," Cesare offered. "There's still some time before the races, and I know you have been dying to see Merla." He led them over to a beautiful winged black horse, which was standing in a corner of the stable.

"Hello, Merla," Falco greeted, rubbing Merla's horse. Merla let out a whinny of content. Both he and Georgia greeted all of the other horses. Afterwards, Falco went straight back to Merla and continued talking to her.

Georgia poked him. "Falco, we should get going if we don't want to miss the Stellata! Cesare's already left with Arcangelo."

Falco looked up. "Go on ahead, I will catch up with you soon enough." Georgia shrugged and left the stables, but not before telling Falco to hurry.

Falco di Chimici smiled. "I will." He changed into the stable-boy clothes that Cesare brought for him, and then walked back to the house. He planned to do more than just watch the race; the race was in his honor, and he planned to take full advantage of it and give the crowd a show that they will never forget.

Even Paolo, Teresa, and Cesare's five siblings had left. Georgia too had left with them. Falco looked around their house, and was about to take a spare Ram's scarf when he noticed a cloth sack sitting nearby with scarves of all the Twelfths sitting there. This, he assumed, was the bag of scarves that Cesare had confiscated from Enrico.

He rummaged through the bag and pulled out twelve different scarves, one for each Twelfth. Then he put them on. Knowing the Stellata was going to begin soon, he quickly ran back to the stables, untied Merla, and happily climbed onto her back, realizing that this was the first time he was riding a horse since his accident three years ago.

Falco and Merla rose into the sky, aiming for the Stellata.

* * *

Falco arrived just in time. He hovered a bit as the race horses lined up the track in the order that his father had pulled out the balls, and then, when the final Twelfth, Rincorsa the Water-carrier, began to run, he swooped down on Merla and joined the race. 

Instantly, he heard the crowd go wild, and several Reman girls cheering and screaming for "Bellerofonte!" which Falco recognized as the name of a legendary flying horseman. Smiling slightly to himself, he continued to run on Merla, outrunning all of the other Twelfths. He barely noticed Cesare's look of astonishment as he passed him, and was soon well ahead of the other Twelfths.

Presently, he heard the cries of "Bellerofonte!" dying down, some muttered whispering, and then cries of "Falco! Falco!" began. The spectators kneeled and crossed themselves several times while making the Hand of Fortune.

"A phantom!" a voice shouted. "Prince Falco has returned to his own commemoration!" The rumors spread, and Falco, knowing that he was not a phantom, ignored them and looked up at the Lady's stand. He caught sight of his older brother Gaetano di Chimici, sitting there with Francesca with a happy look in his eyes. Near his brother he saw his father, Duke Niccolò di Chimici, pale and as white as a ghost.

Just as Falco reached the finish line, he whispered, "No Merla, we must fly now!" Merla spread her elegant black wings and rose into the air. Her shadow spread throughout the crowd, which shouted, "Dia!" Falco looked down and realized, for the first time, that he had no shadow in Giglia. However, he was not surprised, as this was something Georgia and Luciano had warned him about before.

Falco looked back down just in time to see Cesare pull back and allow the Lady's horse to cross the finish line first instead. While Falco was flying over the Lady's stand, he pulled off the green and purple scarf of the Lady's that he had been wearing and tossed it down to his father, who caught it without saying a word as he stared at the form of his son. Falco hovered a minute in the air, before hurrying away.

He flew around the city for about an hour, before returning to Paolo's stable, where Georgia, already changed into her 21st century clothes, was waiting for him. Georgia, white-faced, hugged him. "What did you do that for?" she whispered. "Gaetano I can understand, but imagine what your father thought! He looked like he had seen a ghost!"

Falco ducked his head slightly. "I had to. I had to let Father know that I am okay, that I haven't died."

Georgia touched him on the shoulder in a gently way. Falco abruptly realized how pretty she looked, dressed in girl's clothing wit her tiger-striped hair. "Well, now that he knows, you must be even more careful. He must not find out our secret. He would only be more shocked if he learned that his own son, his beloved son, became a Stravagante! But... it is time for us to go, Falco. We might come back again one day, now that we both have our talismans."

"Yes..." Falco murmured. He hugged Merla one last time, took off the scarves of the Twelfths, and went inside the house to change. He came back out, and both he and Georgia curled up in the hayloft of the stable and went to sleep, clutching the talismans that would take them back to the other world. Falco knew that he would never forget that day.

* * *

That's the end! I hope it was good, since it was the first Stravaganza story that I have written. Please read and review? 


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